Northan Ireland day 1

   day 1- We arrived safely at Belfast international airport met by Andy and a couple of his friends to take us to the hotel, as we finally got the hotel we went through with Rachel and Andy the plan for this weekend and mainly what we were going to do on the Saturday and what our aims were to get out of this trip. Everyone had given there thoughts on what they hoped to get out of this trip, my aim for this trip was to find out what Northan Ireland's YMCA's had different compared to ours in northumberland.

         Day 2- We had all went down for breakfast in the morning for about 8 o'clock, and all met down there once we had had breakfast we went upstairs to finish getting sorted making sure we had everything like our notebooks and pens. After that we all went down to wait for Andy and Steven Turner to appear at the hotel when they came we had set off to Belfast YMCA first to see what they had different and ask them how they got involved and what benefits they got out of it. It was interesting as they had a gym upstairs which is different from northumberland YMCA, once we had finished off at Belfast YMCA we had headed off to Green Hill YMCA which was brilliant it had loads of outdoor activities for loads of children and families that stay there, they also had cabins on the front facing over the sea. we went into the YMCA and Kenny who we met there he had talked through with us what his YMCA does and he got two volunteer's called Sarah and Joe who happily take us round and show us everything in site. afterwards we went back up stairs got something to eat and chatted more. We had a hours break before we went down to Lisburn to grab something to eat at half 6 and during that break the volunteers let us have ago of the outdoor activities, Chelsea, Alex and Dillon had ago of the Zip wire was good fun then afterwards we went onto doing some archery we was brilliant as we had 2 little competitions. So we moved onto going to Lisburn and went for a meal at pizza hut afterwards we went to visit Lisburn YMCA, which was similar to the northumberland YMCA, what amazed me about this is the fact everyone was interacting with each as in our YMCA the groups that would come in, would stay in them groups and talk to each other but people here interact with everyone in there, they are full of answers and friendly to everyone. as we left Lisburn we headed back to the hotel and sat round talking about if we had a good day and what we got out of it.

Well that's pretty much for it today and will be blogging more tomorrow :)


Hannah Elliott.


        

Northern Ireland Day 1

       Well here i am. safely arrived at Belfast international airport. We were picked up by Andy and a couple of his friends who had offered to pick us up and take us to the hotel. After picking Andy's car to travel back in i had sadly learnt that not all men are good with directions, even with a tom tom to help :P After a hour of traveling from the airport we talked about the day a head and what we would like as an outcome of tomorrow and the entire weekend. i wanted to gain more information to be able to help my own YMCA in helping the youth throughout different activities and sessions (AIM for the weekend) i also wanted to be able to widen my knowledge on others who work within the YMCA and gain more knowledge on the different types of YMCA's there are within northern Ireland (Throughout the day).
         The day had started out by going to Belfast YMCA which was a DELIGHT! before the meeting had started we were able to have a small chat with some of the workers in a informal way, which to me is the best way to gain information on not only the person your talking to but also about how they feel about the place of which they are working at. after this we were shown a few videos to do with the different sessions Belfast YMCA hold, i.e. Friends Forever USA and Youth in Government  We were then showed throughout the establishment which had then allowed me to gain more information to help my own YMCA (North Tyneside). This is mainly for the GYM and how the Belfast YMCA workers use the GYM and how they make our GYM better.
          We then went to Greenhill YMCA where MORE information was given about the establishment and the sessions they run (Our heads were FULL with information at this point), which also told us about their program about people coming from around the world to take a Gap year to work with children, which is like Camp America. we were then met by two of the current workers at the YMCA,  Sarah (Or Sara) and Joe (Or Jo) Sorry guys if your reading this and i've still spelt it wrong!! :) who showed us around and let us play on the equipment, Archery and the zip line!
        Then after a nice meal at Pizza Hut with Steven Turner. THANKS!! we went to Lisburn YMCA to contribute to the drop in centre, i can sadly say that i enjoyed my self so much that i did not want to leave :'( from going to the drop in centre I WILL be coming back to help out at the Lisburn YMCA in any way i can! if they will have me.
       Today has been VERY successful in my eyes. i have gained more information on the YMCA's and i have also gained more accomplices. I cant wait for tomorrow to start a new day and gain more information :)  so ill see you then, BYE

Chelsea Taylor
Volunteer
North Tyneside YMCA

Posting on Rachel's account cause i dont have one yet :) 

To inspire

To inspire isto engender a dream and to empower.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p012yvfc

One Million Youth Voices

Good morming from the meeting of the YMCA National Leaders meeting in YMCA Dunford House - England.

Wednesday was day two of full day meetings discussing our 'Presence' at this time. There were four main topics of the day. We are embarking on a research project to survey one million young people across the globe. We will target 15 - 24 years olds on issues such as Health, Civic Engagement, employment and environment.A mamouth task but along with us the United Nations and the International Labour Orgamnisation were keen to support us and hear our findings.

The second item was what we call the Prague Festival. This is a music and arts festival engaging some 10,000 young people from the YMCA across the world for a week in August 2013, some excitong plans.

The next item we discussed was the four yearly World Council of the YMCA. The Council meeting is the main Governing boday of the World YMCA which will be held in Estes Park in the the Rockies - Colorado. We are expecting 1500 volunteer and professional leaders to gather in July 2014.

And finally we considered how we can manage to demonstrate to smaller YMCA Movements, how they can feel fully heard, valued and engaged in the wider Global movement.

The day finished with a demonstration of English Wines. A great end to the day.

It is now the beginning of day three, the sun is up, it has been raining overnight and the air is fresh. I can hear the birds singing, I feel they are singing for me! Looking forward to another greta day.

Archbishop Speaks to YMCA World Leaders

Tuesday 12th February Archbishop John Sentamu spoke to some forty YMCA Leaders from across the world. He was speaking on the topic of 'Empowerment as a Christian Mission'. He said that 'justice is the heart of Empowerment'.

He encouraged the listeners to love the outsider and disposessed.By giving a young person the knowledge that they can do - you have won the war!

He said we need to be the change we want to see, he encouraged us to listen on order to understand better.

We were charged to work against Self observed individualism and to strive for Justice and Peace for the young people we serve.

The gathering of the Clan!

Well the sun almost rose before me this morning, but not quite! It is 7.20am and I have been out to prepare the car to pick up a very special guest after breakfast. Please understand the car is not the toy I have recenly acquired.:)

Yesterday was spent, working in tandum with the giant that is one Romulo Dantas from Brazil and currently Executive Secretary for Youth Emowerment at the World Alliance of YMCA's, meeting and greeting people arriving from across the world to consider the strategic direction of the Global YMCA during the next two years and no doubt beyond. They have come from South Korea, Austrailia, India, Bangladesh,Japan, South Africa, Seiria Leone, Togo, Kenya, Gaza, Palastine, Denmark, Sweden, Neitherlands, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Surianame, Peru, Brazil, Argentina,and England. More will come today.

When the sun arose yesterday I was concerned that at 8.00am, just as the first people started to arrive, the snow started. I thought, 'Please No'!, but I didn't need to worry. It was as if nature had conspired to coat the trees and ground with a freshness that created a chocolate box top scene befitting such a special day and enhancing the sense of 'Welcome to England'.

Time for Breakfast, the clan is gathering, there is a fizz in the air, in just over an hour I will pick up of guest speaker for today. The Rev Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York who will speak on the subject of 'Empowerment as a Christian Mission'.

I will seek to share with you how the day progresses!

Welcome to England

It is a damp Sunday morning, 7.30am and I am sitting in the former home of one Richard Cobden, Member of Parliament in the mid 1800's, friend of Prince Albert,now the National Conference and Training Centre of YMCA England.

This is such a wonderful place.

I hear one or two people saying, why are you there then? Well over the next few days I have the pleasure of welcoming the National General Secretaries from around 40 National YMCA Movements from across the Glob, to have discussions on the strategic work of the YMCA Global Movement. The guys from Sweden and the Netherland are here, spending today with some of the worlds most wonderful people discussing and acting of Youth Policy issues across Europe. Later today I will welcome Romulo Dantas, Executive Secretary for Youth Empowerment of the World Alliance of YMCA's and the Narional General Secretaty from Sierra Leone. The rest will arrive tomorrow, Monday. More on what is happening during the week later.